The present invention relates to terminal blocks for use with electrical equipment; more particularly, the invention relates to a means of connection between two or more terminal blocks in order to produce a larger capacity block without increased costs associated with manufacturing a one-piece block.
Terminal blocks provide a point of termination for wires coming from one piece of electrical equipment and extending on to another piece of equipment. Typically, the blocks include a number of studs with an attachment means like a nut at each end of the stud. The studs are spaced apart at a uniform distance to prevent "creeping" of electrical voltage.
A typical use for a terminal block is between a programmable controller and the equipment to be controlled. Another use is with ground fault equipment. The number of studs required in the block vary widely depending upon the application. For example, some applications require a terminal block with as many as twenty separate termination points. Because the terminal blocks are often injection molded and the studs must be separated from each other, economics limits the number of studs in a single block. For example, a block housing twenty studs would require all new tooling in an injection mold machine set up to produce terminal blocks having an eighteen hole maximum. Connecting two separate terminal blocks together can provide a block with the required number of termination points while avoiding problems associated with making one block. However, any such connection must not only connect the blocks but must also maintain the desired distance between the termination points on either side of the connection.
There is a need therefore, for terminal blocks that can be mated together thereby providing any number of terminals and eliminating the costs associated with manufacturing separate blocks of various lengths.
There is a further need therefore, for terminal blocks that can be mated together whereby the desired distance between all termination points on the mated blocks is maintained.